TFC coach Vanney has completely new mindset for his side this season

NORCO, Calif. — They say leaders and deep-thinkers open their hearts and minds when surrounded by natural beauty.

There certainly seemed to be some of that on Wednesday when Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney spoke candidly about what he had learned from his club’s trying 2018 season and how he plans to bring the 2017 MLS champion Reds back to prominence this year.

TFC worked out (as part of their 2019 pre-season training camp) at a place called the SilverLakes Equestrian and Sports Park, about 45 minutes from their hotel in Newport Beach. Not an ideal location in terms of proximity (a 50-minute bus trip through southern California traffic to get to practice isn’t fun), but certainly breathtaking in terms of the surroundings.

Rain has flooded parts of southern California the past few days and TFC has had to scramble to find suitable training locations. They found one at SilverLakes, which is co-founded by former German international legend Jurgen Klinsmann — who actually showed up in a golf cart during TFC’s practice, spending a few minutes talking to Toronto forwards Jozy Altidore and Terrence Boyd, both of whom aren’t training full bore as of yet (Altidore is recovering from ankle surgery and newly signed Boyd just arrived a couple of days ago).

After practice ended, Vanney discussed how he plans to remake the Reds this season, pausing at times to look up at cloudless sky and nearby green hills and the snow-capped mountains farther off in the distance.

“I think everybody’s set the reset button from last year and the frustrations that we had from last year,” Vanney said after his team boarded the bus and headed back to Newport Beach. (Vanney had a car). “Last year was incredibly frustrating for all of us. Myself at the top of that list. And I do think there’s a sense of urgency now, but I think there’s an understanding that this is going to be a process.”

Vanney said he spent much of the off-season reflecting what went wrong with his club — how a team that won the MLS title in 2017 and was considered one of the best all-time sides in MLS history, crashed so badly, at least in MLS play, last season.

Vanney figures he has picked up on the main problem (beside the injury bug). He feels his squad — and he blames himself much for this — came out of the gate concentrating too much on CONCACAF Champions League. He said by the time Toronto had advanced to the final in April (losing to Guadalajara), he felt his squad was already a spent force psychologically, and that reflected in their league play.

“Everything became about the championship and we were willing to sacrifice everything to try to win that championship,” the coach said. “But we really have to understand is, a season is about a process. It’s a long season and we need to put in everything we can to be successful at the beginning of the season, but also understand that this is a process of getting better every day, every game.

“If we are in position to win a championship in CONCACAF again, we’ll for sure go for it. But we have to keep our mentality on the point that this is not a one-championship season. This is a long season of a lot of games and we want be consistent and we want to get better throughout the course of the season.

“And that’s really the mindset shift that we are making as a group from last year to this year,” Vanney continued. “We’ve been able to get some really high-intensity training (here at pre-season camp) which is what prepares your body for a hard, long grinding season. And that was something we really needed.

“And for me managing, I have to make sure I use the right language day-to-day about getting better every day and not saying, ‘We’re going to win this championship or we’re going to win that championship.’ Ultimately championships are a product of you doing your process well and becoming the best version of you.

“Then you have the best chance of winning championships and I think that’s just where we need to focus.”

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